Sunday, October 08, 2006

In church today, the sermon was about the Amish tragedy of last week. Five of their children were murdered most brutally, and yet their first acts as individuals, and as a community was, first, to forgive. The priest told us of the account he read, the mother of the murderer, welcomed to grieve with them, the harmony that comes from the respect of all living things, and the grace to remain, as giving individuals, faithful to their way of life, and the God that they believe in.

Acts of hatred and intolerance are woeful things. We are unable to understand them. We become these things, as weaker individuals, because reason and charity are the choice we have, we were 'given', unique in the system of living things.The Amish may appear fanatical, in this trust, but they are not. They are the example, to which we aspire, in our loftier moments.

In Cyprus, isolated as it is, being an island, we share in the effect of small communities. Thus the denial, which affects us is all the more hurtful. Let us say that this is God's plan, to begin again, but to hold to the blessing of love. You know that my family has suffered greatly with many disappeared. I know that this is true for all of us. I accept, my responsibility, and I respect this loss by the hope to which I apply myself for life's betterment.

The resolution of our impasse will not come from the blame which may never find closure. In our hearts this black void cannot be filled by revenge. Asking yourself what you deserve to get, offers no relief. Asking ourselves what we have to give may lead to the peace and prosperity that is the best state, as well as our desire.

You see, fanaticism, is not necessarily a bad thing. As individuals, it is what we do with it.